Another Classic at NWA

3:30 a.m. my iPhone buzzes under my pillow and I'm quickly brought into a state of awareness. I was aware that I had about thirty minutes to shower, finish packing, load my gear and bike into the truck and be on the road if we were to keep our 4:30 departure time. I hate being late, especially if I'm the one who sets the schedule. We had decided to all meet at Andy's house and leave from there. I arrived with about ten minutes to spare shortly followed by Zach and Erin. Once we saw everything we were taking we were a little hesitant about everything fitting into the FJ but with a little shuffling and rearranging everything fit snugly and we were off to the races.

The trip to Prairie Grove was nice. It was cool to get to hang out a little and catch up on what's been going on with everyone, discuss some team tactics, sleep, watch each other sleep and really just get a chance to enjoy each others company. We made a short little pit stop in Sallisaw to hit up the local Braum's for some Hotcakes and coffee. After that it was straight to Prairie Grove. The closer we got to Prairie Grove the worse the weather looked. The temperature was gradually dropping the further west we went and then once we crossed into Arkansas we were greeted with the rain. This looked to be another epic NWA Classic. Fortunately for us about 20 minutes or so before we reached our final destination the rain stopped and the sky somewhat cleared. The wind, however, did not.

We had decided that we would drill it right from the gun just to see what happens. Either they let us go off the front or we know real fast that it's not going to be that easy. That lasted all of about three minutes. At this race you have a neutral rollout of about maybe a quarter of a mile or so and then it turns right. That's were we went, when it turned right we all went off the front. It didn't seem like such a bad idea until we hit the open field about 2 minutes away. That's were we were hammered by the crosswind. There was nothing to shield you from the wind and it was showing no mercy. That crosswind and the fact that the road was turning upwards seemed like a perfectly good excuse to wave our little white flags. We sat up and slowly filtered back into the field.

This race seemed real negative to me. Not individual attitudes but the attitude of the whole peloton. Everyone seemed pretty content on a light tempo pace and the only real surges were the jumps to prevent a break from going off. Once the break was caught everyone just went back into chill mode until the next one. This type of race is always hard for me at the beginning of the season, not the course or the distance, but the need to be patient and conserve energy and see how the race unfolds. I'd rather be towards the front and hoping for a break to stick and find myself in it. That's great when you burn just a few matches attempting it but when you pretty much burn your whole book it's bad news. I keep thinking I've learned my lesson but then find myself relearning it at the beginning of each season.

We tried several times to get a break established but nothing worked. It didn't matter who we went with, guys with numbers, guys who could solo the whole course by themselves, it just wasn't happening. At one point, by accident, Zach found himself in a solo break just because when he was at the front everyone else sat up. His break lasted about 1/3 of a lap and then he was back in the peloton. The whole time he was off I was just thinking how did that happen and if he could just get out of sight we might actually be able to pull this off.

It wasn't until the third lap that we were successful in getting a rider up the road and in a break. Erin was able to establish himself in a four man break somewhere around midway through the final lap. We'd been hoping for a break all day and finally it's off. I moved up a few places to the front and "did work". Myself and a rider from Bicycle Shack Racing assumed the responsibility of keeping everything under control and not letting anyone get in the mood of bringing our break back. BSR had a teammate in the break also so it was in both our best interests to do what we could to help it succeed. In the end it all paid off with Erin pulling off another excellent finish at 4th place and the Bicycle Shack racer taking 2nd.

Myself, I rolled across the line in 14th place. Once Erin was off I was hoping for a top ten but after attacking, countering and covering when it came time at the end to sprint it out my legs just didn't have it. I somehow managed to avoid cramping on the last climb even though I could feel my muscles trying to seize with every pedal stroke. If I look like I'm in pain in the picture below that's because I AM!

Ah, NWA, until next year. Maybe, just maybe...

Lost in Thought

It's been a bit since I last wrote, so I figured I'd jot a few things down and get caught up on my blogging. I really enjoy blogging but the time just isn't always there. Today, however, I'm sitting solo in my office during lunch after enjoying some leftover spaghetti and am choosing my blog over looking at these prints.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with my girls. I chose not to hit any of the races over the weekend but to just stay close to home and spend some time with them before the season hits hard and heavy. Amie had plans Saturday night and that meant that it would be just me an my girls. Really, I was looking forward to it. I got up early Saturday, put my time in on the bike and had that all out of the way by 10:30'ish.

I had all these great expectations as to what my evening would be like. Between the four of us, it seems like something is always going on. I wanted to this weekend to be special and a time of smiles and laughs and chasing each other around the house. Well, it wasn't. It was almost the opposite of that. Emily is teething right now, cutting molars, and just about requires being held all day. When she's not being held she's learned a new cry and it is very loud and sounds like she is extreme pain. Addi, is almost 4 now, and loves her little sister more than anything in the world. However, she feels like she has to show her how much all day long by hugging and kissing on her. Which is great, really it is, I know one day that won't be happening. But right now, that kiss on Em's hand, the hand that Addi just pulled out from under Em while she was crawling just made Em bite the dust and in the few moments she wasn't crying, she is now. That's how the day goes. You have all that going on and then you try to mix in a load of laundry or dishes or dinner and it just adds fuel to the fire.

Needless to say, I wasn't the father I hoped I would be over the weekend. It seemed like no matter how much I tried or what I did something always happened to turn the tide on things and someone was getting in trouble. I have a little thing called a "temper." Both my girls now have this so called "temper." It's something that I have in check 99% of the time but when I slip that 1% it isn't a moment to be proud of. Mostly it's something to be ashamed of because I over reacted and could of stopped it had I just walked away for a minute. It's not physical or abusive or anything but a little over kill for girls as young as mine. Maybe, when we hit the teenage years there will be a time and place for it. But not now. It's something that I actually pray about every day. That God would just help me to control it and at some point get it out of my life.

A friend of mine recently posted a blog that I've been thinking about ever since it hit the board. More specifically, I've been thinking about these three sentences, "Fathers have a HUGE impact on how there children see and view God. And for me that is certainly true as it is for my three sisters. The impact that my father had on his children was and is far reaching."

I don't know that I feel exactly the same way, as I don't know that my dad had a direct impact on how I think of or view God. None the less, those three sentences have been on my mind since I read them. If that is true for some people, then it might be true for my girls and I want them to view God as a kind, loving, and forgiving person. God is someone who protects his children and He also disciplines his children. But that discipline is more of a loving discipline rather than harsh. This is an area of my life that I need to work on. My girls mean the world to me and if my actions in anyway prevent them from finding Jesus or knowing God's love then what good have I done as a father. I need to be the daddy my girls need and lay down a good example for them to follow. One day, hopefully, way down the road, my little girls will be bringing a boy into our house and I will see the mistakes I've made over time in that boy because that is how my girls are going to think they should be treated. Hopefully, I'm the best daddy and I'm someone my girls can be proud of.

To close all of this, I want to say I have never been the husband to think my wife's job of being a homemaker, domestic engineer, or stay at home mommy is easy. But after this weekend I want her to know what an AMAZING job she is doing. She's the glue that keeps everything running as smoothly as it does. Sweetie, WE love you!

Lil' Em

On March 4th, 2009 Emily Elizabeth became the newest member of my family. This past weekend we had the opportunity to celebrate her 1st Birthday with some close friends and family.

Emily is Amie and I's second blessing. Both beautiful blond haired, blue eyed little girls. FYI, for future reference boys, don't be fooled by their sweet smile and big blue eyes. Beneath that beauty lies a very short fuse and a personality that knows what they want and when they want it. Most of the time it's, "NOW." However, if you can overlook those traits that their father passed down you'll find a big heart, endless hugs and kisses. My girls are precious.

It's amazing to me to look at Emily now. A whole year has passed by. She has grown so much and it seems like each day brings something new. Her and Addi are so much alike and so different. They both share the same physical and personality traits mentioned above but Em is a problem solver. She loves to figure things out. Give her some shapes and a box with cutouts in it and she'll find which shape goes where, or give her some rings and she'll stack them in the right order. She doesn't get frustrated when it comes to problems. Not having her milk ready when she wakes up though is another story.

Emily is so close to walking and talking, but right now she's content with crawling. Crawling fast! I'm pretty sure if she gets on a bike, she'll be a sprinter or if she keeps the "Lil" she might be a climber. Addi was the exact opposite when it came to these things. She almost walked before she crawled and she's loved to talk since the words "da da" came out of her mouth.

One thing is for sure, my girls love each other. To see Emily look up to Addi and follow her from room to room and want to play with and be like her big sister is awesome. And I don't think you could find a bigger sister who is more proud and loving than Addi. I'm not sure how many kisses Em gets every day from Addi but if I got a dollar for every kiss I could quit my job and live happily ever after.

Happy 1st Birtday Em! Daddy loves you and thank you for the smiles you bring to our family.

Walburg Classic - My 1st Race of the 2010 Season

We had been checking the forecast the entire way down to Walburg. We looked on every different iPod app we had and all app’s pointed to a sunny start with a light south breeze and only about a 20% chance of rain for the day. It sounded real promising. The apps were wrong! The sun was hidden behind a think overcast and the thoughts of another Walburg day was the gossip. Apparently, Walburg has a reputation for bringing out some nasty weather, somehow the rain or wind finds its way to this race each year. This year was no different. The temps weren’t too bad; I got by with bibs, a short sleeve base, jersey, wool socks, and my gloves. However, the overcast soon turned to drizzle and the wind began to pick up. The once dry farm roads littered with dobs of mud and cow poo started to look more like a motocross course at times than that of a road race. Yes! It was going to be epic. I had never done Walburg before but I did want the complete Walburg experience and it looked like mother-nature was going to give it to us.

The RACE, 72 miles of hills, false flats and a long uphill finish and yes, I do mean a long uphill finish. This was a 24 mile circuit so we had the opportunity to ride the course three times. I was riding without a computer, for the first time ever, so I’m not exactly sure how long of stretch that finish climb was but I know it started before the 1 km marker. It started off gradual and then just began to wear on you. It was a finish you would definitely have to get your timing right if planned on sprinting it out.

The race had a nice little neutral roll out until the first left and then without wasting any time the pace quickly picked up. It was nice and steady and my starting position was good somewhere in the top ten. That’s what I had hoped for. Close enough to see what’s going on but not getting beat up by the wind or anything. My teammate, Mark, and I had kind of discussed a strategy prior to lining up. We had a couple of guys marked, expecting a break, and hoping to stick one of us in it.

Within the first five to ten miles the attacks started (sorry, I didn’t have my computer to give a little more accurate detail). One of the guys we had marked, who is also from Oklahoma, jumped. I jumped. We went a little off the front and he’d look back to see what was going on. He’d sit up, I’d sit up and we’d fall right back in. He went again, I went again, same result. I hadn’t ridden with him since last season but I know how he is in a break and he’s smart, he works and he’s a pretty cool cat to go along with it, all are great things when you’re off the front so I didn’t want to miss it if it happened. A mile or two later, he went again and I went again…same result. This time though I started wondering if maybe he wasn’t working for a teammate of his. I had ridden with him a week earlier and he was on point. He is also killer in a break and I decided that I wouldn’t try to cover another break with this guy and see if his teammate jumped at all. That decision to wait was my first wrong decision of the day. Somewhere between miles 15-18 the guy jumped and I didn’t go. Mark, my teammate, did however and it proved to be the best decision of the day.
The break started out as eight or so riders and eventually grew to twelve pretty quick. That’s when the switch flipped in my head. I’m pretty sure this was the first time this had ever happened to me or happened so apparent that I noticed it. I went in to teammate mode and I stopped worrying about my own personal result and I focused on the teams result. I stayed towards the front, within the first five or so riders and I watched, I covered attempted breaks to bridge up, and I listened for the time gaps. That was my job for the next 54 miles, to listen to time gaps and help that time to become more distant. I couldn’t even tell you how many attempts I covered in 54 miles, a lot. I don’t remember the last time my legs felt as good as they did on February 20th but I’m glad they did. Each time the motorcycle official called out a time I would try to do the math in my head and figure out what the odds were of the peloton catching the break. As the miles rolled by the break of twelve dwindled down and each rider was absorbed by the peloton. Each time we saw a guy drop I looked for the DNA Green and I never saw it. Each guy that rejoined the peloton increased our odds at a win. Neither, the peloton or any attempt to bridge up ever reached the break.
Mark was able to pull ahead on the final climb to the finish and bring home DNA’s first victory of the season! Me on the other hand, I had a decision to make at the end as we were approaching the final stretch to the finish. Do I sit in and try to recover a little and sprint it out or do I try to go with the few guys still trying to go off the front. I chose the latter of the two. My hope was that the field would let us get a small gap and hold it to the finish. By now my legs were feeling worn down from all the surges and I knew I wouldn’t have much of chance if I put myself in a position to sprint it out. As we hit the 1 km mark you began to see so many riders you hadn’t seen all day. Where did all these guys come from? About 2/3rds up the climb I was still in pretty decent shape and could possibly pull off a top ten finish. Then what I knew was coming happened, everyone started jumping and despite my effort my legs just didn’t have in them. I rolled across the line in 21st place.

21st place? How does 21st place feel? For this race, it felt great. Everything was clicking for me. Despite only 4 hours of sleep, mentally I was feeling good. Physically, my legs felt great. I felt as if I did my job as Marks teammate to do what I could to secure him a chance for the win. Did what I do really help…I’ll never know, but Mark and DNA Racing did get the win that day and I’m proud to be a part of that.

Some props, you might have noticed while reading this report that there are some killer pictures. That's all because of one man, Andy Chasteen. The guy is amazing. An amazing person and amazing behind the lense. If you need some shots, rock climbing, to sky diving, to just chilling with your family give this man a shout.

Maximum Velocite

After much anticipation the moment we had been waiting for had arrived! It was finally time to build up our new Velocite Helios frames. Velocite Co is a cutting edge company headquartered out of Taiwan. DNA Racing was fortunate enough to hook up with them and now have these beautiful steeds to carry us from one race to the next. In a couple of weeks a few DNA members will also be rolling their hoops. I'm syked to check them out also.

Zach and I made arrangements to meet at Al's Bicycles of Norman right after work and start the tear down of my old bike and then dig right into the build up our new bikes. I had the frames almost a week without totally opening and unwrapping them, just waiting to share the moment, it was killing me. The wait was well worth it though. The frames looked beautiful. Smooth lines, subtle details and a very crisp paint job catch your eye right away.

Ah, the feel of freshly unwrapped carbon! Just being in a bike shop puts a smile on my face. The smell of lycra, tires & tubes, the site of all those bicycles, bars & stems hanging on the wall, it's like my shoe store...they have shoes too. What's even better is going in to build up a brand new ride. Once the boxes were opened we couldn't wait to start throwing things on the scale.

First thing to hit the scale was of course the frame. The Helios frame has a 34.9 mm integrated seat post and a BB30 bottom bracket. It also has a tapered head tube going from 1 1/8" - 1.5" and fully internal cable routing. Did I say BB30! Race Ready.

My medium frame came in at 1150 grams. That's with uncut seat mast and rear derailleur hanger. So, just slightly over 2.5 lbs.

The Bora fork, again uncut, weighed in at 390 g's. The Bora is a full carbon fork, including dropouts, in which the steerer and fork blades are the same piece of carbon. Right now, we're at 3.36 lbs for frame and fork.

Cut calories or cut the seat post? I'll go with the seat post this time. Shaving off a whopping 36 grams. Cutting this baby takes us down to 3.31 lbs.

The Velocite ISP seat clamp came in at 142 grams. Frame, fork, headset and seat post all come in at 1760 grams. Roughly 3.89 lbs.

Next up, SRAM Force BB30 cranks. I went ahead and tossed this on the scale because after all the digging I did, I only found the weight listed once. It was listed at 645 grams with bottom bracket assembly. They were about 18 grams off. I'm turning the 172.5 compacts. My cranks came in at 608g's and the bottom bracket assembly (not ceramic) came in at 55 g's. Putting them at 663 grams (1.46 lbs). I'm not sure how much weight savings ceramic bearings bring, maybe that is the extra 18 grams. None the less, if you're looking for an accurate weight of the SRAM Force crankset, look no further.

I've been around most of the time when my bikes have been built up and lent a hand here and there but I'd say this was the build I got the most out of. I was a little more hands on this time and for me it seemed a lot easier to understand why this goes here or that does that actually getting my hands dirty. Of course, we had a little help from our boys down at Al's. A special thanks to Christopher and Andrew who kept the lights on and wrenches turning well past closing time.

Ride report and final weight coming soon!

Frameset

Despite two days worth of drama our frames arrived safely to my office. To be honest, I was a little concerned with our frames getting from Taiwan to California but then figured it would be smooth sailing from there. I kept a close eye on the tracking and my worries were erased once I saw it had reached the good ole U.S. of A. I followed them as they went from Cali to Dallas one day and Dallas to Oklahoma City the next. The day they were to be delivered I was out of the office most of the day and when I came back in to find my framesets not there I knew something was wrong. I got online and looked at the tracking information and sure enough they had been delivered. Delivered to a JSmith at 3:20 that afternoon. Too bad there isn't a JSmith in my office. I got on the phone with the original carrier to confirm that they had the correct address and they immediatly went into action trying to help me recover my lost package. They contacted FedEx and was told
the driver would relocate the misplaced package and have it to me within 24 hours. 24 hours later I found out that wasn't FedEx's intentions at all and now they were telling me they had 48-72 hours to relocate and return it to me. This didn't make me too happy and after half a dozen phone calls to FedEx and some friendly exchanges my package finally arrived about 36 hours after the first call was made.

I gave the box a quick look over and found there to be no damage to it and it hadn't even been opened. I'm not sure how I got that lucky. I was kind of expecting our frames to already be listed on eBay. I opened the box to find each piece carefully wrapped and placed within. Velocite had done a great job of packing our frames along with the forks and headsets. You would of had to drive a truck over our package to damage our frames. I was really impressed with that. Packed with love.

The frames look beautiful. They have a very smooth finish. There a lot of minor details on the frame that aren't that noticable online that really add a lot if character to it. Zach and I are both syked to get these babies built up however we're both trying to restrain ourselves until we find a time convenient for both of us to get together to build them up. As soon as that happens I'll have a fully detailed report on the build along with photos and actual weights of most everything.

Sent from Chad's iPhone

Kappa Slappa Napa

I'm two glasses in to a bottle of "Screw Kappa Napa" chardonnay and I'm hoping it helps my writing a little bit. This post is long over due. It's been a little crazy lately and I really haven't had much time to sit down and put something together. Let's see, where shall we start?

Since my last post Emily has started crawling! Amie and I had been working with her every evening and as much as possible on the weekends hoping she would show some interest in it. Low and behold, she decided to start crawling while I was at work. She's been crawling now for about three weeks and is pretty darn quick. It's amazing to watch her grow up and develop a personality all of her own. However, I'm pretty sure Amie and I just cloned Addi. They are both beautiful, blue eyed, blond haired little girls running short on patients and having a quick temper. So who do they take after most...that depends on who you ask.

At work, my Heart Hospital-South has finally...almost...come to a close. It seems to closeout and reopen daily right now. But it's close. We just found out we have a few items to punch out in the Atrium and then hopefully, we're out. It's just small items right now, which is an entirely different ball game because now it's just based on someone's opinion, and then that someone has to get the opinion of someone else and so on. Not to mention, it is occupied now and more blemishes can be found on our walls daily. This project has been great for me and great for Cherokee Painting. The Genereral Contractor has also been great to work with and hopefully I have the opportunity to work with them again.

In my cycling world it's been a crazy couple of months. We've been going back and forth with kit design and Champ Sys approving and disapproving proofs. It's been a little bit longer process than I had hoped but our kits look AMAZING and I can't wait to get them in and hit the races. We've secured all of our 2010 sponsorships, or at least for now. Within the next month or so it'll be time to start trying to secure race sponsorships but that's another post all in it's own. We've also ordered and received a tracking number on our new framesets. As of Friday, they were in Cali just waiting to make their way to the O-K-C. I'd post pics of them now, but I'd rather wait and post some of my own pics during our build. I'm syked and can't wait for them to hit the street. I'm expecting them one day this week. We will be rolling on Velocite Helios framesets. I'll make sure and get actual weights, and pics posted as soon as we have them on the scale. It's been a pleasure working with Velocite and I'm excited to further our relationship into the 2010 season.

Give me a few days and I'll have approved proofs posted of our kits as well as an updated sponsor list.

If you would of told me ten years ago that I'd be lit after two glasses of wine, I would of thought you were crazy. Funny how things change. Used to, booze was a good time, now it's just calories.